by Jeff Skinner
Sound the alarm, push the panic button. The U.S. Ryder Cup Team is in deep trouble. After a successful morning fourball session that saw them cut the European lead down to one point the Yanks ran out of gas in the afternoon.
The first group out, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar started with a bang as Johnson chipped in for birdie on the opening hole and a 1 up lead. But the Yanks could only manage to win three holes the rest of the afternoon to Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood’s five. The 2 & 1 win for the Euro’s was their second full point of the session.
The final match out pitted Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson against the solid team of Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler but it was actually the first match to finish. The Americans had spent their bullets in their previous matches and couldn’t manage to get started. Europe won the second hole and was five up by the eighth hole. It was over then but the Yanks hung on until the 14th and the 5 & 4 win gave Europe all the momentum for the day. 
The third match out saw the marquee team of Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia take on the steady team of Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan. Unfortunately for the U.S. they bogeyed the first two holes and couldn’t dig themselves out of that hole. The Euro’s kept the lead at 1 up until they pulled away with birds at 14 and 16 to close out the match 3 &2.
The only hope for the Americans came from the surprisingly successful rookie team of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. Team Rookie started off shaky and fell behind 1 down at the third. But they won three of the next four holes to earn a 2 up lead. Luckily, for the Americans Justin Rose’s putter had cooled off for awhile and he and teammate Martin Kaymer struggled a bit. But after the turn they warmed up and Rose started to drain those putts like he had been doing all tournament. The gritty Americans went back to 1 up with a great birdie on seventeen and needed only to halve the last for a full point. It was not to be as the Euro’s got up and down for birdie from the same bunker that the American’s were in. With the Yanks settling for par the match was halved and the Americans now face a 10-6 deficit.
We all know that anything can happen on Sunday and that four point deficit is the same number that the Boys of Brookline overcame in 1999. But the Euro’s know that number better than anyone as they overcame that same deficit in 2012 at Medinah.
It may just big too big a task for the Americans this time.
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